We adopted a dog from Safe Place for Animals last year as we were looking for company for our older dog. I appreciated that they encouraged a meet & greet to ensure that they would get along. We brought ours to the shelter multiple times and finally submitted our application. I appreciated that they took the time to check vet records and references. It made me happy to know that they took the time to ensure that 'our' dog was going to be well taken care of! It is their priority to ensure that all the animals in their facility are healthy and happy, and in turn, want to make sure they will be going to loving homes.
As I followed their journey over the next few months following our adoption, I knew I had to get involved. I have since volunteered my time to help them in any capacity that I can. The owner sometimes has to make difficult decisions, but they are always in the best interest of the adoptable pets. Always. Responsible pet owners will appreciate the process!
ANIMAL LOVERS BEWARE!!! HEARTBREAKING STORY!!! PLEASE READ!!! When we first arrived we were greeted by a lady on the phone who acted like she was put off by our visit. She directed us around back. Later we found out she would be the one to make the decision on our adoption for my niece's companion.
First let me state we are HUGE animal advocates. Our entire family owns and cares for multiple furbabies. I live here in this area and my sister was visiting from Nashville, GA. My niece was celebrating her 10 year birthday yesterday and I convinced her mother it was time to add to their family for her. My niece has Cerebral Palsy. She is very active and only requires a brace on her arm and leg. She was so excited. My sister has a Yorkshire Terrier at home that is 18 years old. There is so much more to this story. In short, my niece is adopted. She was excited to be able to adopt her very own baby to have of her very own. We had been out all day looking at dogs that had the right temperament that she could handle. We found that baby at this place. We then proceeded with the process of filling out the application. The employee was thrilled with us and our story and even told us they would push the application through since my sister and my niece would be leaving on Sunday. We called back up later to find that the 18 year old Yorkie she had at home was 5 weeks late on his shots, per the RUDE lady on the phone. My sister said she had received the reminder in the mail a few weeks back and had planned on taking him in next week when they returned. However, the RUDE woman stated that this was an issue. So my sister called the vets office and had them call to explain to this center that the Yorkie was only behind on his yearly and was current on everything else and was very well taken care of. We had also placed on the application another dog she had owned 7 years ago (even though the application only required us to list 5 years back any pets we had previously) She had another Yorkie that died 7 years ago that was 19 years old. The vet she goes to now she had only been going to for 7 years and this pet never went to this vet. Only the current Yorkie. They stated that the other Yorkie was never seen by this vet and that she was denying the application because they didn't think my sister took care of her pets with vaccinations. ?????????????? Excuse me? Again, every one of our pets are EXTREMELY well taken care of! Then she went as far as to tell her that she wouldn't let her adopt because she was from out of state. I am a witness to this conversation. My niece was so upset and was crying on her birthday. My sister too was upset. What was supposed to be a beautiful experience was shattered. I understand about the vetting process and stand by the need to find homes for these babies to good families, but this place discriminated against our family. For whatever reason they are using, it is unacceptable and unwarranted. ALL of the reasons she gave could have been explained away and vetted with proper verification from my sister's vet.
I am personally going to file charges for discrimination against this company for what they put my family through. I wish I would have read through all of the reviews before we went to this place and put my niece through this experience. An adoptive child learned a horrible lesson in this and they denied a wonderful family and pet a connection. Shame on them!
I own a company that is huge advocates for animals. We raise money every year for animals and non-profit centers like them. Snooty Giggles and The Humane Society are FAR more professional than this company and I would warn anyone who was thinking of adopting to think twice before investing time or money into your efforts of this center. It's such a loss for a center that COULD do so many good things to just RIP apart dreams of people who are actually good fits for these furbabies!
I am a concerned citizen and will not stop until I do everything in my power to prevent discrimination from happening to someone else.